


Sunrise

by TheCarmineWanker



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 03:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18562648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCarmineWanker/pseuds/TheCarmineWanker
Summary: It's easier than one would think to ignore attraction and cling to denial, but only to a point.





	Sunrise

Katara hadn’t had too much trouble ignoring how Zuko made her feel a tad hot and bothered at times. When he grabbed her hands, saying “I’ll save you from the pirates” and she felt fire go down her spine, she imagined it was her chi flaring as she prepared to fight. When he tied her to that tree and circled her like a predator, holding her necklace to her throat, it was easy to ignore the gentle tickle and dampness she felt between her legs because there was so much else going on. When he said “oh, aren’t you a big girl now” during their fight at the North Pole, she decided that the fire in her veins was outrage at his patronizing tone.

Similarly, when there had been a pang in Katara’s heart upon seeing Zuko’s raw pain when Azula shot Iroh with lightning, it had been easy enough to ignore. Him lashing out at her allowed her to restore her anger and later attack him when she was imprisoned with him in Ba Sing Se. However, in those catacombs, when he said “that’s something we have in common”, she felt it again, too strongly to ignore. She was incapable of ignoring the way her skin burned where she touched his scar, too, even more so. Not to mention that familiar tickle she felt when she touched him and he closed his eyes, leaning his head into her hand just the tiniest bit. In the commotion of Aang bursting through the wall, she managed to ignore the sharp tug at her heart as they stepped away from each other.

After the events that followed, Katara did her best to resume her prior hatred of him. To some degree, it was extremely easy. He had betrayed her the same way Jet had, but worse in many ways. Her anger was real and red hot. However, try as she might, she couldn’t dismiss the moment they had shared. He may have betrayed her, but he had seemed completely genuine about his mother. She tried her hardest to convince herself he’d been manipulating her, that he was just a liar like his sister, but, in spite of herself, somewhere inside, she just didn’t believe it. It also most certainly did not help that she knew that he’d known about her Spirit Water, that he knew she could heal him, that he could’ve told Azula as much and finished Aang off, but he didn’t. He let them go, he let her heal Aang and she knew it.

She tried to ignore it all. Aang was better by then and they hadn’t seen Zuko since Ba Sing Se. Even still, he managed to creep into her thoughts. She’d see a familiar looking tree by a river and be reminded of when he tied her to one just like it and taunted her, trying to get information about Aang. It was, in many ways, welcome, since it fueled her anger. But then, for seemingly no reason, she’d see a little boy with his mother and think of him. She found it extremely irritating.

That was at least part of why she was so incensed when he showed up at the air temple after the eclipse. After plaguing her thoughts, now he was actually there. That, and she was still very hurt by his betrayal. Of course, she never said as much. To everyone else, she was still just extremely upset about him hurting Aang. They didn’t know about his small mercy or how it haunted her. It also didn’t help that somewhere deep inside, part of her was just afraid to become attached to him, after what happened to Jet. They were in the middle of a war and it would not do her well to forget that.

It was a relief when he took her on her so-called “field trip”. She felt like she’d been freed of a huge burden once he had proven himself and she no longer had to be angry at him. Hugging him, all that weight that had been hanging on her shoulders was gone. Of course, she would never tell anyone that. She still was trying to convince herself that, all along, she had every right to be angry and he was terrible but now that he’d helped her they could be friends. She clung desperately to her beautiful denial, but it all came undone one morning on Ember Island.

Thanks to Momo, she had been woken up rather abruptly at sunrise. Unable to fall back asleep, she had decided to go to the beach and practice her bending. To her surprise, Zuko was meditating, sat in a lotus position by the front stairs. She stopped and just stared at him for awhile, taken aback by the peacefulness of his expression. She was jolted out of her reverie when a stray cat moseyed right on up to Zuko. It sniffed his leg, startling him out of his meditation. The small, soft, genuine smile on his face was bad enough, but then he held out a finger for the creature to sniff and, satisfied, it hopped into Zuko’s lap.

She might have been able to come back from the smile, but seeing Zuko sitting there with a cat curled up in his lap, that same smile and peaceful expression on his face as he resumed his meditation, was just too much. It was in that moment that she made the horrible realization that she loved him. She was sure that Toph would never let her hear the end of this.

Zuko hadn’t had too much trouble ignoring how hot Katara was. It was easier when she was still in the South Pole, bundled up to her ears in furs. It still wasn’t too hard when she was in the Earth Kingdom, even though she was wearing clothes that were much more form fitting. When he’d grabbed her in his attack with the pirates, it was easy to ignore the way looking into her wide blue eyes sent fire through his veins. He was a firebender after all, it didn’t seem terribly extraordinary. It was also easy to ignore how that only happened when she was around, since it was a rare occurrence.

When she had offered to help his uncle when Azula shot him with lightning, it made him feel weird. There was a pang in his heart. That was why he’d snapped at her like that. After that, he stubbornly ignored it. That is, until Ba Sing Se. When she’d offered to heal his scar, his chest ached and when she touched his face, her strong fingers against his skin sent that familiar fire coursing through him. Even though he couldn’t ignore it, he could refuse to acknowledge what it meant and remain firmly rooted in denial. When he let Aang go, knowing she would heal him, it was because he didn’t want unnecessary blood on his hands, not because he was trying not to hurt her more than he already had, desperately wanting to believe his inaction would be enough to make up for some of what he had done.

After all that passed at Ba Sing Se, he was conflicted. He felt awful about betraying her trust, yet simultaneously he was excited to finally be able to go home and for once in his life have his own father not hate him. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. It felt too good to be true, like when Azula had come to take him home but actually intended to take him as her prisoner. To some degree, he felt that his apprehension was due to his guilt regarding Katara. How could he possibly have earned a home and his family’s love through such betrayal and the murder that everyone else believed had occurred?

Such thoughts plagued him the entire time he was in the Fire Nation. He found it somewhat vexing how often she wormed her way into his thoughts. Every time he saw the turtle duck pond, rather than thinking of his mother, he was instantly reminded of his fight with Katara at the spirit oasis at the North Pole. Whenever he saw a girl with wide eyes and a soft face, he saw her. In a palace of red, whenever he saw a glimpse of blue, he thought of her. It really bothered him.

When he faced his father, everything he said was directly related to Katara. What she’d been through, how she’d responded to him, etc. After all, though he would never admit it, she was the main reason why he chose to defect. When he joined them, it hurt how much she seemed to hate him. He genuinely cared what she thought of him, so of course it hurt that she thought so little of him. He was aware that he deserved it but hated that there appeared to be no way to remedy the situation, especially since everyone else had no problem with him anymore.

When she hugged him after their little trip and announced that she was ready to forgive him, his denial completely fell apart. In that moment, he knew he loved her. He also knew he had no chance with her at all, realistically. That, and that Toph would certainly know soon enough. It was not a good situation at all and Zuko was not excited.

The resolution did not occur until later. More specifically, when he took lightning for her. After almost dying for her, Zuko had a bit of an epiphany and realized that life is too short and precious to waste and that he should put aside his reservations and just go for it. After watching him almost die for her, Katara had a similar experience. Once she’d beaten Azula and then finished healing him, Katara kissed him. It was a bit awkward (he had just been struck by lightning, after all) but if either of them were to describe it, they both would have said it was perfect.

When all the others learned they were together, Sokka was surprised, Aang was depressed, Toph knew all along, and Suki thought it was cute. Aang had been a bit obnoxious with Katara about it, but he stopped that soon enough, keeping his sadness to himself. Sokka approved, saying that since Zuko had literally almost died for Katara that he had no reason to object and couldn’t think of anyone better for her to be with (Aang didn’t exactly take kindly to that.) Toph just said “finally!” (she had been very vocal about how impatient she was for them to just get together.) Suki said they made a great couple and that Katara would be a perfect Fire Lady (Katara sputtered at that, stumbling to argue that they just got together and are definitely not even thinking of marriage. Zuko just laughed and agreed with Suki.)

And, in the end, Suki turned out to be right. Theirs was one of the most successful rules in Fire Nation history, and Katara was every bit as much responsible for that as her husband was. Zuko and Katara also began a great lineage of strong, kind rulers that would last many years. Perhaps this was because they had saved each other: Zuko almost died for her and her healing was the reason that he didn’t. In their mutual kindness and selflessness, they were able to heal a nation and, by extent, the entire world.


End file.
